Ups and Downs
by MidnightsVisitor
Summary: Jaune doesn't believe in himself, and Pyrrha just wants him to see her as something more than a friend, but sometimes romance doesn't come along as easily as they thought. Rated M because of language that is to come, and other... stuff.
1. Chapter 1 - Talks

**Authors Note: This is my first time posting a story on this site, ever, so reviews and criticism (constructive hopefully) would be appreciated :) Hope you enjoy, i'm hoping to turn this into a full story, so we'll see how things go.**

Up and Downs

Chapter 1 - Talks

Pyrrha is fed up with this.  
>For months she has tried. And tried. And tried and tried and tried. Yet she still hasn't managed to get the attention of a certain blonde haired boy who by coincidence is the stupidest person she's ever loved. Well he's not stupid, she just added that bit in because of her annoyance. She isn't going to stop though, she can't, it's in her namesake.<p>

Jaune and Pyrrha made their way up to the roof to do their normal evening training. Normally they'd be chatting the whole way to the roof, however Jaune was slowly becoming less and less talkative. Now they walk to the roof in pained silence, much to the girls distress.

They trained like normal, but something wasn't quite right. Pyrrha swung, he parried. She kicked, he ducked. But he wasn't doing something. Pyrrha looked at her partners face and saw what he was feeling. He was sad, and angry, and confused but the one thing that shined through the brightest, was emptiness. He looked empty. His face was completely blank yet it portrayed every single feeling he had.

As the training progressed, Jaune started to make mistakes. He'd let a swing connect with his chest, a kick to the face. He was getting worse. It broke Pyrrha's heart to see her object of affection and student to give up so easily. But more so, it made her angry. How could someone give up? Victory was the only thing Pyrrha ever knew, how could someone else not see that their victory could be so close to them.

Just as Pyrrha kicked Jaune in the chin for the fifth time in a row, using the exact same manoeuvre to bring him down, Pyrrha decided to speak up.

"Jaune, what is this, you were going to well and now this?" Pyrrha made no attempt to stop her anger bubbling into her voice.

"Sorry Pyrrha, I'm just a bit distracted, that's all," Jaune said dejectedly, sitting on the ground while looking at his feet.

"Well then?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well what?" Jaune said confused, looking his emerald eyed partner in the eyes.

"What has gotten you so distracted? And don't bother giving me the 'i'm just tired' crap, I've seen you fight twice as good when you were half asleep!"

Jaune looked down at his feet again, he seemed to be considering something in his head before speaking again.

"Well you know how Professor Goodwitch was talking to me today?" Pyrrha nodded, "well while she was giving me the usual scolding for not giving enough effort, I heard her say something under her breath that made me think."

"Well then?" Pyrrha asked impatiently.

"She said 'I feel sorry for Ms Nikos, she certainly deserves a better partner than this'," Jaune said quietly, bringing his hands to his face.

Pyrrha only stared at Jaune for a few moments, her mind was in overdrive. She had a newfound hatred for Professor Goodwitch, and was still mad at Jaune. But one thought stood out in her mind.

"What, you actually believed that?" Pyrrha's voice was angry, but it had a strange reassuring sound to it.

"Of course I believed it!" Jaune exclaimed, "Pyrrha Nikos, probably the best fighter in her age, is stuck with me, Jaune Arc, resident goofball and failure, for the next four years of her life. I'm not a good fighter, I'm not smart, I'm not truthful, I'm not anything you are! I'll never be as good as you are. She was right Pyrrha, you deserve better."

Pyrrha stood back, her hand covering how mouth that stood open in shock. All of her anger washed away in that one moment and she felt nothing. She felt tears building up in her eyes on the verge of falling. Then all of her anger rushed back into her at once.

"I deserve better?" Pyrrha said quietly, "_I deserve better_? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Pyrrha screamed, "HAVE YOU ANY IDEA OF WHAT I DO AND DONT DESERVE? I saved you in that forest for a reason. I became your partner FOR A REASON. Do you think I would've chosen you if I wanted a strong partner? Do you think I would have given you these lessons because I thought you were truthful? Despite the fact I knew how you got into this school? I chose to spend the next four years with you because I thought you were nice, because I thought you were the type of person that looked behind someone's cover, because I thought that you would love me, not because I'm a celebrity but because you'd love the person that I really am. You say I deserve better? I deserve YOU! I DESERVE YOU JAUNE ARC AND YOU DAMN WELL KNOW IT! And ABOVE THAT, you STILL haven't realised the fact that I like you, all the flirting, all the helping. I don't ask for ANYTHING in return. I only want ONE THING JAUNE ARC. I want YOU!"

Pyrrha was a wreck. She couldn't control her tears as more and more streamed down her face, her hands shaking as she wiped them off her face. She was still angry, but these were tears of something else. Not sadness, definitely not relief. She was crying in defeat. She had never lost a fight in her life, and she had just lost the one that would have meant the most to her in her life.

Jaune sat staring at the floor. He was crying too. He didn't know how to feel about Pyrrha's words. Surely she couldn't actually feel that way?  
>Jaune unwisely decided to speak his mind.<p>

Jaune let out an awkward laugh, a single stuttered exhale, "You're not serious, right?"

Through the hands covering her eyes, Pyrrha glared into Jaune's. She began to lose her self to the fathomless ocean in Jaune's eyes, but quickly broke herself away from them as she realised what he said.

In complete silence, and as quick as a snake biting into its victim, Pyrrha strode over to Jaune and slapped him. This was no ordinary slap, this slap was hard. And when I say hard, I mean hard. Her hand whistled through the air terrifyingly, as it quickly came in contact with Jaune's face. And it hurt. The lightning fast bitch-slap, further powered by her aura nearly melted Jaune's face.

The stinging pain burned into his face as he spun to the side and doubled over. He knelt, one hand on the ground, the other covering his molten hot face.

"OWWWEEE" Jaune let out loudly, unable to withhold his childhood expressions, too busy dealing with the pain.

Pyrrha stood looking at Jaune. She had regretted doing that immediately. Probably before she even hit Jaune. But oh how he deserved it. She couldn't deal with this, Pyrrha grabbed her hand that was in front of her face and closed it into a fist, shaking her head all the while. Before Jaune could break her heart further, she ran. No, she sprinted. Pyrrha flashed through the doorway and down the stairs, straight to her dorm.

"Pyrrha, no!" Jaune let out, but she was already gone. He stood up and dusted himself off before rubbing his cheek again. The pain was slowly going away, and the heat was dissipating from his face in clouds of steam.

Jaune walked slowly back to his dorm, but as he stepped closer, he could her muffled noises emanating from the door.

He heard crying. Not the 'over-the-top-wailing' kind of crying, but soft, constant sobbing. He could hear Nora trying to comfort Pyrrha, just as he was about to knock on the door-

"I wouldn't do that if I were you"

Jaune jumped, completely caught off guard.

"Ruby! Don't jump out on me like that," Jaune put his hand over his heart to emphasise his point.

"What's happening over there?" Ruby asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I- I messed up-," Before he could continue, Ruby cut him off before he could speak further.

"Jaune, you're not a failure, how many times have I told you that?" Ruby said.

Jaune let out a dry chuckle, "I'm not about to say I'm a failure, well not entirely, I just hurt Pyrrha's feelings, big time," Jaune told Ruby of the events of the last few hours, about his talk with Goodwitch, and the super bitch slap that still hurt a fair bit.

"Well first of all, you definitely shouldn't go in there. Secondly, why would you believe what Goodwitch said? You know she just a big old meanie, I'm sure she says these kinds of things to every student that comes by her. And thirdly, and I'm just saying, you deserved that slap, Pyrrha really likes you! How would you feel if someone you really liked just flat out rejected you in your face?"

"Uh, I know how it feels. It happens a lot."

"Jaune this is different. One, it's Pyrrha, two, she's a girl, she's gonna take this a lot more personally than you would. Not to mention she'll probably feel defeated, and all she's ever known is victory."

Jaune visibly saddened at Ruby's words. He knew how right they were, and he knew how wrong he had been. Sure, he might have had an interest in her to begin with, and then had a crush, but he tried his hardest to push that to the back of his mind, trying to keep his friendship between them as non-awkward as possible. But after hearing Pyrrha's and Ruby's words he couldn't deny the feeling of hope that sparked within him. However this spark was quickly put out as he realised what he had done probably made her hate him. While he was thinking, he didn't realise he was staring at Ruby silently.

"Uh, Jaune?" Ruby said confusedly.

"Oh, uh, sorry Ruby, j was just thinking about what I did," Jaune seemed to consider something, then visibly let the thought go only to shake his head and speak up, "Ruby, don't tell anyone this but, I have feelings for Pyrrha, not a massive crush or anything, just this feeling I get in my stomach whenever I'm around her. I was shocked when she told me she liked me, but I'm starting to think that any hope of us being together will probably be gone by now," Jaune's shoulders slumped as he looked at the ground.

Before Ruby could reply, Team JNPR's door slammed open and a red hot Pyrrha stomped out, arms tensed by her sides and fists clenched. She grabbed Jaune's shoulder and spun him around, before he could react, she gave him another slap across the face (although not as hard). But instead of running off again, Pyrrha put her hand on Jaune's face, guiding his eyes to hers. She leaned in closer, and closer, just as their faces were mere inches apart, Pyrrha whispered, "You're sleeping outside tonight," and before Jaune could comprehend what his fiery partner had said, she sauntered back into her room, swinging her hips as she stepped.

Jaune turned to Ruby, shocked plastered to his face, as well as a red hand print, and saw her trying to stifle her giggling.

"I guess you better find somewhere to sleep," Ruby said in between giggles.

"Oh and Jaune,"

Jaune looked over to his friend.

"You better make it up to her tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2 - Betrayal

**Authors Note: Sorry this took a while to get out, I got caught up doing exams at school and didn't have time to write a new chapter, but they're out of the way now and now I have heaps of time to write, so you can expect more in the near future. Also I would like to say that I can't guarantee the same level of quality constantly, it really depends on my mood and motivation. Anyhoo hope you enjoy Chapter 2 - Betrayal! - Midnight**

Chapter 2 – Betrayal

_'So, he's been keeping that a secret the whole time.'_

_'Typical.'_

Pyrrha was mad. No, she was pissed. Not only did Jaune basically flat out reject her, he's been harbouring a secret interest in her. She couldn't for the life of her understand why he would do that. For the past semester, she's been doing everything to get his attention. Being around him more than others, selectively talking to him, 'accidentally' holding his hand while they're walking, helping him study, and of course training him. The list could go on and on. And just as she was beginning to think she was exhausting all of her options, she finds out that he's been attracted to her the entire time.

'_If only he'd take his stupid eyes off of Weiss for five damn minute's maybe he could see the people who actually care for him.'_

She slammed the door to her dorm behind her, looking wild beyond compare; she felt a new found rage inside her after over hearing Jaune and Ruby's little talk. She stood looking into her dorm and at her two other teammates, both of which were dumbfounded by the speed she was able to break free of Nora's cuddle and run to the door.

"Uh, what," Ren trailed his eyes back and forth from where the red head had been before and where she stood now.

"I had to have a word with Jaune," Pyrrha stepped towards her bed, bringing the sheets up, "Oh, don't expect him to come home tonight, I think he's learned that I need some space."

Nora, not happy she wasn't cuddling anyone anymore, slowly made movements towards her best friend, and pounced.

Meanwhile, Jaune was shifting uncomfortably on a wooden bench located in one of the many gardens placed around Beacon, the blanket given to him by Ruby giving him barely enough warmth to be comfortable in that regards.

"Aw man, why can't the school have benches _inside_ the school, it'd make everything so much more comfortable," Jaune muttered to himself as he shifted once again.

"Okay, you've got to take what Ruby said seriously, you've got to make it up to Pyrrha… But how?" Jaune mused over different thoughts of how he would make it up to her, he even poked around with the idea of taking her on a date, "No, it's too soon, she'll think I would be doing it out of pity, I should just outright apologise to her tomorrow, and see where it goes from there."

Jaune finally relinquished his minds of thoughts and let the cold subtle breeze sweep him into sleep, but as his mind dulled down, another's flared.

"You know, they still just don't get that I can hear every word they say on that roof."

Cardin Winchester sat on his windowsill with a hand underneath his chin in thought, pondering over the discussion he had heard on the roof.

"So Pyrrha, the redheaded know-it-all, is into old Jauney-boy," Cardin spoke to himself, "Now that is surprising, though she seemed pretty pissed up there and if I know my Jauney-boy he's gonna do whatever it takes to make it up to her, if only I could stop that from happening."

Cardin heard a couple of grunts coming from the garden below, and saw the exact same boy he was just talking about lying down on a bench. Cardin normally wouldn't hesitate to humiliate Jaune, but in seeing Jaune like this gave him an idea to humiliate three people at once.

"Hmm, I wonder what Velvet's doing tomorrow morning," Cardin smirked to himself as he slipped back into his room.

"Gah!"

Jaune woke with a start, his Scroll's alarm beeping loudly next to his ear. He looked towards the sky, it was still mostly dark, the tinges of orange on the horizon hinting the soon to be sunrise. He decided to set his alarm earlier than normal so that the other students didn't him sleeping like a homeless person. He sat up groggily and dragged his feet into the school corridors towards his dorm.

He was hoping that no one in his team would be awake yet. Being as gentle as he could possibly be, he slowly twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open. Peeking inside, he could see Pyrrha sleeping heavily in her bed. She looked so beautiful when she slept, her perfectly sculpted eloquent face rested with a peaceful smile, her graceful hair moving down her face fluidly. Jaune always liked it when she had her hair down, it showed a completely different side to her personality. When she fought, she looked fierce, committed; headstrong. Now she looks delicate, reserved and docile.

Jaune jumped when he heard someone quietly cleared their throat, he turned his head quickly to look at Ren and Nora, the latter must have fell asleep on the former while wrestling judging on the position they were in.

Jaune looked at their faces and saw that Ren was looking back. Ren gave a quick wave to his team leader before signalling for Jaune to help him get out of Nora's grip.

Surprising to say, even when Nora's asleep, it's still pretty hard to get out of her cuddles.

"Thanks Jaune," Ren whispered, "Her shoulder was digging into my throat and I had to stay awake all night doing special breathing patterns so I wouldn't suffocate." Ren lied down onto Nora's bed which was currently unoccupied.

"Well at least it's Saturday, so you can sleep in as long-" Jaune paused mid-sentence when he heard the quiet snoring emanating from Ren's open mouth. "Well, he was up all night…"

Jaune quietly grabbed his towel and other sundries and made his way to the male showers.

Not soon after, the whole school was awake, everyone making their way down to the Dining Hall to get their breakfast before they went on with whatever they did on weekends. Jaune knew team RWBY and his own would most likely be down at the Hall already getting breakfast, so quickly Jaune made his way back to his dorm to get his regular clothes, seeing it was the weekend and he didn't particularly want to wear his armour.

At a reasonable pace he strode towards the dining hall, wearing a special shirt he got made, which read 'JNPR' with each of their own symbol behind their initials. He finally walked into the hall, and spotted his friends at their usual table. Everyone was chatting normally, except for Pyrrha, she had her head held up by her hand lazily and was leaning over the table.

"Alright Jaune, you're a man, you just gotta walk up to her and say sorry, that's all you need to say, no smooth talk, just get straight to the point."

Jaune took regulated deep breaths and walked towards Pyrrha. Finally, he was right behind her, team RWBY and most of his own team began to look at him. Slowly catching on, Pyrrha turned around slowly and saw Jaune standing nervously behind her. She looked tired, the dark rings beneath her eyes accentuating her state.

"Pyrrha I-" Jaune began to say.

"Jaauunnee!" Velvet sang, happily skipping over to Jaune. She hopped right next to him and latched to his arm.

"I had a lot of fun last night, you should sleep over more often," Velvet said looking into Pyrrha's eyes as she held Jaune's arm.

"Uh, what?" Jaune exclaimed, completely bewildered.

"Oh, you don't have to pretend around them, this is about you and me," Velvet looked into his eyes.

Jaune looked down at her face, and immediately knew something was wrong. She looked happy, well at least her face did, but Jaune could see she was scared, the way her eyes moved around was a dead giveaway.

"Velvet, are you okay?" Jaune asked concernedly.

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine, anyway I gotta go, see ya!" Velvet let go of Jaune's arm, but before she skipped away, she planted a firm kiss onto Jaune's mouth.

Completely shocked by the kiss, Jaune didn't even see Velvet skip out of the hall.

But he did manage to recollect his thoughts in time to see a gloved hand swinging at his face.

Jaune flinched, but he never felt the hand connect with his flesh. He slowly opened his eyes to see Pyrrha's hand hovering away from his face, he looked at the hand, and followed his eyes down her arm, finally fixing his gaze with Pyrrha's.

She was scowling at him; a cold, angry face stared at his own, tears silently cascading down her face.

"Pyrrha I'm so sorry-" Jaune started.

"Don't give me 'I'm sorry', if you were sorry you wouldn't have spent the night with another fucking girl!" Pyrrha shouted the end of her sentence, capturing the attention of entire hall, "First you reject me, and then you go off with another girl. Fuck you Jaune Arc."

Pyrrha angrily trudged away from the table.

"Pyrrha please don't go," Jaune followed after her. He quickly caught up behind her and grabbed her shoulder. Pyrrha quickly spun around and kicked Jaune in the stomach.

"Oof!" Jaune let out as all the air escaped from his lungs, he doubled over and tried to breathe deeply.

"Don't touch me! I. Hate. You!" Pyrrha screamed at him and ran off out of the hall.

Through all the pain, Jaune's heart sank at those three words._ 'I hate you'_, they kept ringing in his head, reverberating endlessly as a constant reminder to what just happened. Jaune heard footsteps behind him.

"Oh my gosh Jaune are you okay? What happened? I said make it up to Pyrrha not break her heart. What exactly was that back there?-"Ruby relentlessly asked question after question. Jaune just kneeled silently, letting the same three words ring in his ears.

Jaune began to sob, subtle shakes and silently tears rolled from his eyes. He just lost Pyrrha, he just lost his teacher, he just lost his best friend.

Ruby took noticed of Jaune's shaking back and quickly knelt down beside him and wrapped her arms around him. She looked back to their table and saw their friends watching worriedly.

"I think it's time to go Jaune, I think we all need to talk about this," Ruby slowly helped Jaune to his feet and gestured everyone else to follow. They all slowly made their ways through the corridors until they finally came to their dorms.

Ren pressed his ear against his dorms door to listen if Pyrrha was in there, but after hearing no sobbing he concluded she wasn't in there, or she was really good at being a quiet crier, which after the last night he knew she wasn't. He stepped into the room, followed by the remainder of his team and team RWBY.

Pyrrha sat against the wall of an empty corridor, crying into her hands. She's never felt so vulnerable before, never felt so weak. The picture of Jaune and Velvet in bed together kept flashing in Pyrrha's mind, each time brought another wave of tears. She couldn't believe he would do that, even though he knew how she felt.

"Pyrrha? Are you okay?" A nervous voice called out nearby.

She recognised that voice, that _accent_.

Pyrrha, slowly turned her head to look at Velvet, who was tensely standing away from her. Pyrrha's face turned sour.

"Am I okay?"

End Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3 - Reconciliation

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, wasn't really in the writing mood for a while.**

Chapter 3 – Reconciliation

"Do you think I'm okay?" Pyrrha said sourly, standing up.

"Pyrrha I'm so sorry, it's not what you think-" Velvet tensed again when Pyrrha gave her another angry look.

"Not what I think? Even you knew how I felt about Jaune! And you still go ahead, doing whatever you did," Pyrrha's anger started to dull, "Why did he choose you?" she said almost inaudibly.

"Pyrrha, Jaune and I didn't do anything, he didn't even stay at my dorm last night, Cardin made me do those things back there, I'm so, so sorry," Velvet stepped closer to the redhead, who was now looking at her quizzically.

"What? You mean Cardin did this?" Pyrrha said skeptically, "Why would you let him bully you?"

"Well… I don't know" Velvet muttered, "I can't stand up to bullies, I've been bullied my whole life…"

Pyrrha felt a pang of guilt hit her in the chest as she saw the young Faunus lower her head. Pyrrha quickly closed the gap between them and embraced Velvet in a warm-hearted hug.

"I'm so sorry Velvet for yelling at you, it's just that, I was so angry and jealous I lost control. I'm so sorry," Pyrrha squeezed Velvet tighter to try and emphasise her apology.

"Pyrrha, i-it's okay," Velvet began to hug back, "I'm sorry I was too weak to stand up for myself…"

"What?" Pyrrha pulled her head back to look Velvet in the face, "You're not weak Velvet, it's just stupid people like Cardin think they can control whoever they want, and don't worry, I think Nora and I will be having words with him."

Pyrrha continued to hug Velvet until she remembered what had just happened.

"Oh no, I've gotta go say sorry to Jaune," Pyrrha said as her realisation struck her, "I'm sorry Velvet, I have to go."

Pyrrha turned down the corridor and began to run. As Pyrrha ran, she got out her Scroll and began typing a message.

"Look, I'm telling you guys I slept outside last night; I have no idea what Velvet was going on about" Jaune said quietly.

The whole room was silent as they each tried to try and explain the previous events. Jaune kept remembering those same three words. 'I hate you'. Sure they may have been out of anger, but Jaune never wanted to see the day when his closest friend and partner uttered those words. Jaune didn't have many friends growing up, always that one kid who ate lunch on his own, always trying to join in with the other kids. Coming to Beacon was life changing, finding people he liked to be around, and better yet, people who reciprocated those feelings. He learnt quickly that friendships were the single most precious thing to him. And now one of those friendships is hanging from a thread.

"Wait, Jaune, did you say Velvet looked scared?" Asked Ren curiously in thought.

"Yeah, her eyes kept darting around, and the edges of her lips were shaking. Not to mention her whole body was shaking a bit," Jaune replied monotonously.

"Do you think Cardin had something to do with this?" Ren asked out loud, asking himself as much as everyone else.

Nora, who connected the dots just that bit faster than everyone else, quickly jumped to her feet, "That Motherfuc-" she almost shouted, only stopping herself just before she finished the word.

Jaune was about to open his mouth when his scroll beeped in his pocket. He slowly pulled the device out and stared at the icon that notified him he had an unread message. Tapping the notification, he went cold at seeing it was from Pyrrha. Not sure whether or not it was more verbal onslaught, Jaune detested the idea of reading it.

"Who's it from?" Ruby said softly.

"Pyrrha" Jaune said shortly.

"What!" Ruby jumped up and sat next to Jaune on his bed, "What did she say?" Ruby said urgently.

Jaune opened the message.

"She wants me to meet her on the roof?" Jaune asked aloud.

This seemed to ignite some interest in the rest of the party as each of them started to speak up. Jaune listened to each of their suggestions.

"To push you off… hopefully," said Weiss quietly.

"She probably just wants to talk," said Ruby.

"Well, in any case, you should probably go," Blake said to break the chatter.

"Who knows, you might get lucky," Yang smirked, which was answered with glares, "What! It happens in Blake's books all the time! She even writes fanfiction about it."

Blake's eyes went wide and her face paled. Her mouth opened and closed a hundred times, while her eyes zipped around the room trying to escape the curious glares she was getting.

Seeing as the attention was off him, Jaune quickly slipped out of the room while the others were distracted. Just as he was a few steps down the hall, he heard Blake shouting very obscene words Jaune could only assume at Yang.

Jaune quickly made his way to the roof, the same place where all of this had started. Jaune stood in front of the door, hesitant to open it in fear of what will happen. Realising that if he left Pyrrha alone out there would make the situation much worse; he felt he had nothing to lose.

Jaune opened the door. There she stood, looking out into Beacon with her back to Jaune. Even though she faced away from him, Jaune still thought she looked incredibly beautiful in the morning sunlight. Her deep candy red hair flowing down her back from a high ponytail, her casual attire, consisting of a black tank top and white shorts, clung to her figure, perfectly showing her defined features.

Jaune, now staring at his partner, was in a world of his own when a gust of wind blew the open door shut with a slam.

This, obviously, scared the shit out of both of them.

Jaune shrieked girlishly high, while Pyrrha jumped and spun around lighting fast. Now they both faced each other, Jaune's face slightly flustered from the whole ordeal.

"Hey Pyrrha," Jaune waved awkwardly, "I got your message," Jaune held up his scroll for emphasise.

Pyrrha, bit her lower lip, unsure how to start her apology, while she had waited for Jaune to arrive she attempted to practice how to say her apology, but now that it was happening, her jaw seemed to lock up.

Jaune sighed, "Pyrrha… I'm sorry I've been such a jerk to you, I wish I could take back everything I had said and just start again. I never once considered how you felt, I tried to keep my distance so this sort of thing wouldn't happen, but by doing that I hurt you even more."

"No," Pyrrha said quietly.

"Uh, pardon?" Said Jaune, not entirely sure what she said.

"I said no, Jaune," she said again.

"Ah, I see," Jaune wasn't any more enlightened than he was a moment ago, "Aaannddd, why?" Jaune tried to sound as unconfused as possible.

"Because you shouldn't be giving me an apology, this whole time I've just been a, over reacting, possessive, jealous bitch, and I've treated you horribly, played with you feelings and hurt you…" Pyrrha started feeling guilt wash through her body, "And I understand if you don't accept my apology."

Jaune sighed; he looked at Pyrrha, who was looking at her feet, playing with a loose strand of hair. When it came right down to it, Jaune blamed himself for the whole ordeal, so he made the decision right on the spot to make things up.

He took a step forward, then another, and another. He closed the vacant space between them until he was only a step away. Unsure what would happen, Jaune went out on a limb.

He quickly took the last step and wrapped Pyrrha with his arms. He felt her own arms slide around his back and squeeze. Jaune, who was glad that Pyrrha didn't react badly, began to stroke Pyrrha's back slowly up and down.

"Why would I ever not accept your apology? You're my best friend Pyrrha, you have no idea how much you mean to me. I did this to you, is there any way I could make it up to you?" Jaune asked tentatively.

"Love me?" Pyrrha didn't try to hide the desperation in her voice.

Jaune had the initial urge to laugh, but held back since the last time he laughed at her it didn't end too well. So, he decided to go from a different angle.

"I already love you Pyrrha," Jaune felt Pyrrha's face shift on his shoulder, "But in a different way."

Pyrrha sighed into Jaune's neck, the warm air on such a sensitive spot sending a shiver down his spine.

"Jaune Arc, are you rejecting me again?" Pyrrha mumbled.

"Pyrrh- argh, you know I didn't mean that, come on Pyrrha don't act like that."

"But you did…"

"Pyrrha," Jaune said firmly, "I'm not rejecting you, I think that we should just wait and see what happens, I mean we still have over three years to be at Beacon together, what if we rush things and it turns out bad? I just don't want throw our friendship away like that."

"You're not making me feel better."

"But look at what we have! I mean my best friend is the incredibly gorgeous and talented Pyrrha Nikos; she's my caretaker, my mentor and my idol, and honestly I wouldn't have it any other way." Jaune pulled his head back to look at Pyrrha's face.

"And that same girl wants more than just a friendship," Pyrrha pressed her face back into Jaune's shoulder, "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

Jaune sighed, he knew he wouldn't be walking away anytime soon unless she gets some kind of victory (and he was the stubborn one).

"Pyrrha?" He asked delicately, "Would you like to go into Vale tomorrow? Just you and me?"

"Yes," Jaune felt her smile on his neck, "I would very much like that."

"Okay then, it's a date," Jaune began to pull away from the hug.

Pyrrha resisted, resenting the idea of ending their embrace. But she didn't last long, instead formulating another idea in her mind. They separated, but Pyrrha kept her hand firmly grasped to Jaune, weaving her fingers in between his.

"Can we just stay like this? Just for a little while?" Pyrrha looked into Jaune's eyes; her glistening iridescent emerald's starred into the endless abyss of Jaune's.

Jaune starred back, his thousand watt smile sending sparks down Pyrrha's spine.

"Why not?"

End Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4 - Perfect

**A/N: I had writers block, but that's all cleared up now (yay), so here it is, Chapter 4, enjoy! :) - Midnight.**

Chapter 4 – Perfect

Jaune's eyes darted from face to face as his mind went a million miles a minute. Why? He has to take Pyrrha out on a date. Now he's perfectly fine with taking her out on a date, it's just; he doesn't know how to take her on a date. Sure Jaune has asked out heaps of girls before (sometimes multiple times), but honestly, how many do you think said yes? Anyway the answer is zero, he's been all talk and no show. So, now that a girl is willing to go on a date with him, he has absolutely no idea what to do.

_'__A movie maybe? I dunno if there's anything on that she'd like… Maybe dinner? That may be a bit much, not to mention probably expensive… Dammit Jaune, you're an Arc, you've got a lineage of handsome, confident men to uphold. Now that I think about it, I think I've already failed that…'_

Jaune looked around the circle he and his friends were sitting in. After making things up with Pyrrha, the day had gone into early noon, and seeing they had nothing else to do, teams JNPR and RWBY grabbed some snacks from the dining hall and sat underneath a nice shady tree in one of Beacons parks, where students could study in the open air, play sport, et cetera.

Jaune was having no luck coming up with ideas for a date, and a large part of his attention span was focused on the soft but firm hand gripping his own, and the looks he was receiving from it. Everyone around him seemed to have taken it in stride, seeing as no one had said anything about it to them, but Weiss had a different expression on her face, she looked… relieved? Jaune wasn't sure, but he was quickly distracted by Yang winking at him and wiggling her eyebrows, Jaune noticed this only happened when Pyrrha wasn't facing either of the two.

Jaune's eyes passed over the faces of everyone in the circle, trying to figure out what they would do if they went on a date.

_'__Ruby would probably want to go to an amusement park,'_ Jaune thought, _'Weiss would probably go to an expensive restaurant; Blake would go… ice skating? I don't want to know what Yang would do.'_

Only at the last second did Jaune realise that he was staring at Yang, and didn't notice the enormous devious grin she was beaming.

"So, Pyrrha?" Yang asked with too much enthusiasm, "I thought Vomit Boy was surely a goner after you asked him up to the roof, but then you two come down holding hands? What went on up on that roof that you're not telling us?"

"Actually Yang thought you two were going to have se-"Blake tried to say, attempting revenge on her partner, but Yang's reflexes were quick enough to slap her hand over Blake's mouth before she said too much.

Pyrrha only gave a quick inquisitive glance before she decided to let that little outburst pass and give Yang an answer.

"Jaune asked me out on a date, that's what went on," Pyrrha said, trying to leave out as many details as possible to stir Yang on, Pyrrha's smile matching Yang's.

Jaune smiled sheepishly as everyone faced him, unsure if he liked all of the sudden attention. Okay now he was definitely sure, Weiss looked relieved.

Before he could react, Jaune was flat on his back with a strange weight on top of his body, and two very tightly wrapped arms around his chest.

"Daawwwwwwwwwww!" The high pitch noise violated his ears, "My little Jauney is growing up!"

Nora sits up, straddling Jaune in a very awkward position, one which he was not completely comfortable with.

She gasps heavily, "You two are gonna go on dates! And then you can be _together_ together!" Nora's jaw dropped, "And then you two can do romantic things together like kissing! And hugging! And sleeping together! And-"

"Wait wait whoa whoa whoa!" Jaune slipped out from beneath Nora, "We're just going on one date, I don't think that will involve us sleeping together," Jaune looked to his teammates for backup.

"What are you talking about? Ren and I do it all the time! Don't we Renny?" The cheer in her voice didn't falter once as she spun around, her smile still as wide as ever.

Ren's eyes went wide, knowing that everyone would take what she said in the wrong way. As he suspected, everyone was suddenly giving him eyeing him like he was some sort of animal that was prone to bouts of unrestrained sexual desires.

"Buh ah-, nah ah, no, ah it's not like that!" Ren raised his hands and shook his head.

"Of course it is!" Nora said, still oblivious to the suggestiveness of her words.

"Oh really?" Yang said, her grin trained on Ren.

"Yeah! Ren lets me sleep with him so I won't get nightmares! He's really sweet like that," Nora punctuated her sentence with a longing stare into Ren's magenta eyes.

Yang was visibly disappointed by this answer, crossing her arms with a huff and slouching down. Jaune stood and dusted himself off.

"Hey guys I'm gonna get something to drink, any of you want something?" Jaune asked everyone below him.

After receiving an order of two bottles of orange juice, a can of grape soda and some strawberry milk, Jaune broke off and made his way to the dining hall. Just as he entered the hall, he could feel a very distinct presence creeping up behind him. A very cold presence.

He turned around quickly, not wanting to be surprised twice in such a short time. And sure enough, the one and only Weiss Schnee was stomping towards him, with purpose.

Pointing a finger up to his face, Weiss spoke, "Alright Mister, I don't know what kind of thought processes go on up in that thick skull of yours, but seeing as its obvious you don't know what date you're going to take Pyrrha on, I'm going to help you," Weiss took a step back from him and lowered her hand.

"Wait, why are you helping me?" Jaune asked, genuinely curious.

"Well seeing as you've finally decided to stop pestering me with your stupid date proposals, I don't want them starting again after a failed date with Pyrrha. So, do you have any idea where to start?"

"Ah, yes, ah well actually… no" Jaune rubbed the back of his head.

Weiss took a deep breath to suppress the anger that bubbles out every time she has to talk to the dolt alone, "Okay do you know what she likes?"

"Um, fighting?..." Jaune asked more than he suggested.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily, "You are such a dunce, you know that?"

Jaune's shoulders slumped forward, "I know, I'm just not that good when it comes to girls. I know Pyrrha is my best friend, but I don't even know what her favourite hobbies are!"

"Well you better get good soon or I will make your life as miserable as you have made mine!" Weiss' voice became sharper with each word that left her mouth. "I don't know what that girl sees in you," she let out a dry chuckle, "But I definitely know that she deserves better than you."

"Excuse me?"

Jaune and Weiss both snapped their eyes onto a very concerned looking Pyrrha Nikos, who had happened to catch the last part of their conversation.

Remembering the rage that had been released earlier, Weiss tried to backpedal hard.

"Oh ah, hey Pyrrha, I was just talking to Jaune about-"

"About how I deserve better than him," Pyrrha cut into Weiss' speech.

"Uh oh," Jaune said, knowing where this was going.

"What? No I wasn't I was just-"

"Yes you were, you said you didn't know what I saw in him and that I deserve better than him," Pyrrha's voice making the situation more tense with each word.

"Pyrrha don't-" Jaune tried to put his hand on her shoulder, only for her to shrug it off and step closer to the Heiress.

"You don't know what I see him? Well of course you don't because you're nothing but a cold-hearted control-freak bitch and have treated Jaune like trash since the day you met him! You would never see the things I see in him, he may not be the best Huntsman; he may get sick when he's on a plane, and he may not be the most confident of people, but he's dedicated, he's faithful, he's committed, and most of all, he treats the ones closest to him the way they should be treated!" Pyrrha's voice grew in volume as she spoke, making Weiss slowly hide behind her hands.

"And for saying that I deserve better, I think I know well what I deserve, after all that I've done to try and stop him from trying to chase a girl who thinks it fun to play with other people's feelings. I'm so sick of you treating him like he was some sort of sub-human being for no good reason, and now you're here picking on him because he's finally getting attention of a girl that's better than you. " Pyrrha's volume had lessened, but the coldness in her words became sharper as she spoke.

"Um excuse me? I came here to talk to Jaune so he wouldn't screw up on your stupid date because I thought that he had no idea what he was doing, but _apparently _I was wrong! So I am so sorry for being the control-freak bitch here, I'll just be on my merry fucking way!" Weiss stomped off, hitting Pyrrha's shoulder on her way out.

Pyrrha watched the back of the Heiress walk away, her face in an angry scowl.

"Pyrrha, you didn't need to do that, she really was trying to help," Jaune said, trying to calm Pyrrha down, "It was my fault again, I had no idea what to do for our date and it frustrated her, and I'm really sorry for-"

"Jaune," Pyrrha interrupted loudly, grabbing Jaune by the shoulders, "Stop blaming yourself for the behaviour of others, it's not your fault that she's a complete and utter stuck up bitch," Pyrrha smiled sweetly at Jaune and grabbed a hold on his hand once again.

"Come on Jaune, I want to go train," Pyrrha began to walk towards down the hallway, tugging on Jaune's hand to follow.

"Wait, I was going to get drinks for the others," Jaune attempted to protest.

"They can go get it themselves," Pyrrha pulled harder, "Also, don't worry about tomorrow, I know what I want us to do," Pyrrha turned and gave Jaune another stunning smile.

Jaune noticed how her mood could do a complete 180 in record time; the way she smiled was completely devoid of any previous malice. Jaune simply smiled back and walked side by side with Pyrrha, their fingers still entwined with each other's.

Meanwhile, back at the rest of the group, Ren looked towards the door Jaune had gone through.

"Why is Jaune taking so long?" Ren asked quietly, "I want my strawberry milk…"

As the day wore on, the remaining members of teams JNPR and RWBY decided to play a game of King of the Castle, which consisted of them turning the park into a battlefield, terrorising the students and walker-by's all the while; Weiss went to her dorm to sulk to herself under the pretence of studying, and Jaune and Pyrrha trained on their rooftop.

Jaune and Pyrrha finished their training session, the distraction had calmed them both down from the incident that occurred earlier that day. Having been showered and eaten, Jaune decided that he should get an early nights rest, he knew that Pyrrha would have something big in store for him.

Just as Jaune lies down, he looks over to say goodnight to his team, only to see Pyrrha standing next to his bed, in her pyjamas, holding a pillow.

"Hey Pyrrha, do you need anything?" Jaune asked tiredly.

"Yes, move over."

"Huh?" Jaune must have miss heard or something.

"I said move over, please," Pyrrha repeated, her nonchalant manner thinly veiling how nervous she actually was. She was actually nervous, believe it or not, since she's been so straightforward it may seem like this was nothing to her. In truth, she was merely taking opportunity of the situation in another attempt for her to make him see her in _that_ way_._

"Oh ah, okay," Jaune complied, sliding over to the side of his single mattress. Pyrrha deftly slipped her way into his sheets. Jaune really didn't know how they would sleep comfortably, unless they-

Before Jaune could finish the thought, Pyrrha wrapped Jaune's arms around her, and pressed her body firmly against Jaune's.

His heart rate grew, amongst other things, at the sudden intimacy, his mind well aware of the person pressed up against a certain, area. Pyrrha could feel his heart quicken on her back, she smiled at the thought of how nervous he would be, at least they would be in that boat together.

"So, what gave you the idea to do this?" Jaune asked cautiously, unsure what would trigger a change in the situation, for better or for worse.

"Well, Nora gets to do this, so why can't I? Anyway, you said you would do anything to make it up to me," Pyrrha said cheekily, knowing what she said would stir Jaune up.

"I think you're starting to abuse your privilege, anyway, Ren and Nora's beds are pressed right up next to each other's so they have heaps of room."

"Don't you like being this close to me?" Pyrrha said, mock offended.

"No I like being, I mean I'm okay with it- I mean I- I," He stammered, his lack of experience getting the better of him. To think of all those scenarios he made in his head, you would think he'd have some inkling of what to do. Nope.

"Besides, I don't see any reason why we can't put our beds together too."

Jaune sighed, the hot breath tickling Pyrrha neck.

"Goodnight Pyrrha," Jaune whispered into her ear.

Well, this is a good a time as any.

Without any resistance, Pyrrha rolled around to face Jaune, they stared into each other's eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Pyrrha made a move to lean in, but her target had the same idea.

They head butted.

And while it may not have been a very hard head butt, it still hurt. Quite a lot actually. Jaune broke the silence between them with a restrained quiet laugh, trying to not awaken the other members of his team. Pyrrha joined him in his laughter, the sound of her soft melodic laughter disrupting the silence.

They looked at each other again, this time they were both smiling. They leaned in again, this time being aware of each other.

It's hard to describe someone's first kiss. It's exhilarating, intimidating, incredible and terrifying all at the same time, a flurry of emotion that courses through the body, the ability to share something intimate with someone else, especially with their crush.

Pyrrha could sum it up in one word: Perfect. Though she couldn't be Jaune's first kiss, at least she'll be the first that means it.

They parted, the fleeting feeling of each other's lips still lingering on their lips, they looked upon the others faces, longing to go further.

Jaune swallowed loudly, "We should go to sleep, we have an important day tomorrow."

"Yeah, we should," Pyrrha said, albeit disappointed, returned to the position they were in."

Their limbs grew heavy; blissful sleep began to take shape.

"I love you, Jaune," She had to say it, he had to know.

Silence.

…

…

"I love you too."

End Chapter 4


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